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Wasted on war

Did you know that the United States has spent more than a quarter of a trillion dollars during the three years in Iraq? Each month,

Sandusky Register Staff

May 24, 2010

Did you know that the United States has spent more than a quarter of a trillion dollars during the three years in Iraq? Each month, the government spends $4.7 billion on this war. In today's dollars, this amount almost matches the $5 billion per month spent on the Vietnam War. The cost of Iraq War has spiraled out of control.

A Republican Senator, Chuck Hagel, estimated that an additional $50 billion would need to be spent before the Americans are out of Iraq. That totals $216 billion in war appropriations. This is equal to four times the Education Department's annual budget and twice the amount of money that the General Accounting Office has estimated was necessary to fix the nations schools. This amount is also 43 times the cost to enroll the 40 percent of eligible preschoolers still not in preschool.

The money was to be used to guard bases and feed the shelter the troops. Most of this money was spent with little oversight and no accounting. For example, $2 million was given to a company started by Scott Custer and his partner, Mike Battles, who was active in the Republican Party and had White House connection, to provide security at Baghdad Airport. Within a year, the two had landed $100 million in contracts.

The Iraq War is costing taxpayers so much money that important programs like schools have not been adequately funded. The government has over spent and not kept careful track of the money. We haven't received our money's worth and the government must address this waste.